How Carriers Can Use Protection Services to Safeguard the Digital Lives of Their Customers

Every digital service has its downside: (private) customers are left completely in the dark about which data is collected and used by the different services offered for example by digital giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. Private customers leave their digital footprint whenever they like a friend’s photo, order goods online, or search for topics of their interest, such as nice hotels, cars or cloths. Customers are creating their digital identities without even realizing it, as they do not gain any transparency on what kind of data—if not all data—is processed and being used for commercial or other purposes. Generally, consumers would prefer services to collect, analyze, and store as little of their personal data as possible. However, as of today private customers have little transparency let alone control over what is happing with their data. Telecommunications providers have the chance to reclaim the interface to the customer by supporting their customers in this asymmetrical constellation of information and power and to stake out an outstanding position for themselves in the areas of security and protection.